Johnson C. Smith University athletics director, Steve Joyner, Sr. announced the hiring of Lennox Graham as the new head men's and women's cross country and track and field coach. Graham will also serve as the Irwin Belk Complex stadium manager. His appointment became official on November 7, 2007.

Graham brings 14 years of coaching experience at the junior and senior level, resulting in six national high school championship titles at Kingston College (High School) in Kingston, Jamaica. He has coached many individual champions at the local high school, Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), Central American and Caribbean (CAC), North American - Central American and Caribbean (NACAC), Penn Relay, Pan American Junior Championships, and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) levels. A 1984 graduate of Alabama State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration, Graham earned his master's degree in business administration from The University of New Orleans in 2006.

As a student-athlete at Alabama State University, Graham competed as a sprinter /hurdler for the ASU hornets from 1984 to 1987. He was the top sprint/hurdler all four years and still holds the school record for the 110 meter hurdles. He earned the Most Academic (1985-87), Most Outstanding Hurdler (1984-85), and the Most Valuable Runner (1986-87) awards while competing for the Hornets. He also garnered the George Hubert Lockhart Award for overall excellence in sports across varsity sports at ASU (1987).

As a coach, Graham has made his presence felt on the national circuit having coached in several Championships to include: • Pan American Senior Championship 2007 (Rio De Janeiro, Brasil) • Presenter, Sprint Clinic in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu Malaysia, December 2006 • Declined national senior team coaching duties offered in 2006 in order to complete MBA • Central American and Caribbean senior team 2005 • Central American and Caribbean senior team 2003 • Jamaica's World Junior Championships (Kingston 2002) - Hurdles • Jamaica's Junior Central American and Caribbean team (Barbados 2002) - Hurdles • Jamaica's Junior Central American and Caribbean team to Puerto Rico 2000 - Head Coach • Jamaica's CARIFTA Team to Trinidad 1998 - Assistant Coach

His is also a member of the national coaching team working with the hurdlers for the World Junior Championships (Annecy, France 1998).

Last season, Johnson C. Smith was fortunate to host the 2007 NCAA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Coach Graham's contacts have already been put to the test as he was able to secure Leford Green as a student-athlete, competing for JCSU this spring. Green is a member of the Jamaican national senior team and has ambitions to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics. He competed this summer in the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships in Osaka, Japan where his team finished fourth in the 4x400 meter relays. He ran the fastest time in Kingston College's history (45.82 seconds) and is a decorated athlete. Green has won bronze, silver, and gold medals at several events to include the CAC, CARIFTA, junior and senior Pan-American games as well as the Penn Relays.

Graham and his wife Valrie, have three children - Richard (15), Brian (13), and Xonnel (9) all of whom are avid swimmers.

Coach Graham may be reached at legraham@jcsu.edu or (704) 378-1122.